Systems and methods for cooperative data exchange

ABSTRACT

Various systems and methods for financial analysis are provided. A system is provided comprising a first node comprising a public facing data store in communication with a private facing data store, wherein the first node further comprises a cooperative lookup module configured to locate a second node, a secure data connection between the first node and the second node, and wherein the first node is configured to request processed internal data from the second node.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of, claims priority to and thebenefit of U.S. Ser. No. 13/160,361 filed Jun. 14, 2011 and entitled“SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR COOPERATIVE DATA EXCHANGE,” which isincorporated herein in its entirety.

FIELD

The disclosure generally relates to financial analysis, and moreparticularly, to systems and methods for cooperative data exchange.

BACKGROUND

End consumer-facing business entities tend to have limited data relatingto their customers. While a business entity may have a customer listcontaining demographic information about a customer and/or a set ofprior transactions conducted by the business entity and the customer,many business entities may not have additional information about theircustomers. Moreover, it is often difficult to derive insight from thislimited data set. It would thus be useful for a business entity toenhance the value of this limited data set to gain additional insightsinto its consumer base through, for example, a cooperative dataexchange.

SUMMARY

Various systems and methods for financial analysis and data analysis areprovided herein in various embodiments. A system is provided having afirst node comprising a public facing data store in communication with aprivate facing data store, wherein the first node further comprises acooperative lookup module configured to locate a second node, a securedata connection between the first node and the second node, and whereinthe first node is configured to request processed internal data from thesecond node. In various embodiments, an analytics module performs a joinbetween the processed internal data and data in the public facing datastore to produce a first data set and/or performs a join between thefirst data set and data in the private facing data store to produce asecond data set.

In various embodiments, a method is provided comprising requesting, froma first node, the address of a second node at a third node, wherein thefirst node comprises a private facing data store and a public facingdata store, receiving, at the first node, a response from the thirdnode, connecting, from the first node, to a public facing data store ofthe second node, via a secure connection, and receiving, at the firstnode, processed internal data from the second node.

In further embodiments, a method is provided comprising processinginternal data to form processed internal data, populating, using aprocessor, a public facing data store with at least a portion of theprocessed internal data, and transmitting the processed internal data inresponse to a query for the processed internal data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features and advantages are hereinafter described inthe following detailed description of exemplary embodiments to be readin conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures, wherein likereference numerals are used to identify the same or similar parts in thesimilar views, and:

FIG. 1 illustrates a method, according to various embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates a method including a select strategy, according tovarious embodiments; and

FIG. 3 illustrates a system, according to various embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates a lookup methodology in accordance with variousembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description of exemplary embodiments herein makes referenceto the accompanying drawings and pictures, which show the exemplaryembodiment by way of illustration and its best mode. While theseexemplary embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable thoseskilled in the art to practice the disclosure, it should be understoodthat other embodiments may be realized and that logical and mechanicalchanges may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of thedisclosure. Thus, the detailed description herein is presented forpurposes of illustration only and not of limitation. For example, thesteps recited in any of the method or process descriptions may beexecuted in any order and are not limited to the order presented.Moreover, any of the functions or steps may be outsourced to orperformed by one or more third parties. Furthermore, any reference tosingular includes plural embodiments, and any reference to more than onecomponent may include a singular embodiment. Terms similar to “connect”may include a partial or full connection and/or a partial or fullinterface.

Systems, methods and computer program products are provided. In thedetailed description herein, references to “one embodiment”, “anembodiment”, “an example embodiment”, etc., indicate that the embodimentdescribed may include a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include theparticular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrasesare not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic is described inconnection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within theknowledge of one skilled in the art to effect such feature, structure,or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or notexplicitly described. After reading the description, it will be apparentto one skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implement the disclosure inalternative embodiments.

In various embodiments, the methods described herein are implementedusing the various particular machines described herein. The methodsdescribed herein may be implemented using the below particular machines,and those hereinafter developed, in any suitable combination, as wouldbe appreciated immediately by one skilled in the art. Further, as isunambiguous from this disclosure, the methods described herein mayresult in various transformations of certain articles. The disclosuremay be implemented as a method, system or in a computer readable medium.

Business entities (for example, merchants) may improve their businessesby harnessing data related to their customers and consumers in general.As used herein, the term “consumer” may mean any person or entity thatconsumes or uses an item. As used herein, a customer may mean a personor entity that has purchased and/or may purchase in the future an itemfrom a given business entity, such as a merchant. Thus, a customer listmay be a list of people or entities that have purchased or may purchasean item from another entity, such as a merchant.

In various embodiments, cooperative data exchange may be useful forbusinesses to gain insight into their customers and consumers ingeneral. Cooperative data exchange may also allow businesses to viewdata relating to their competitors and providers of complementary goodsand services. Analytics may be performed on data sets created through acooperative data exchange to improve business performance and prospects.

Cooperative data exchange 100 is illustrated in FIG. 1. A cooperativedata exchange may comprise multiple nodes. For example, a cooperativedata exchange may comprise a first node, second node, third node, fourthnode, etc. A node may be any system that comprises a data store and, invarious embodiments, also comprise a processor and/or a memory. A nodemay comprise, for example, a computer system, smart phone, or tabletcomputing device, as described herein. A node may also be connected toany network, including those described herein. For example, a node maybe connected to the Internet, such as directly or through an intranet. Anode may also be connected to a virtual private network, including thetypes described herein.

With continuing reference to FIG. 1, in one embodiment, node 102communicates through secure channel 114 with node 108. Node 108communicates through secure channel 136 with node 120. Node 120communicates with node 102 through secure channel 128. As used herein,the phrase secure channel is used interchangeably with the phrase secureconnection, and may include fully secure, substantially secure orpartially secure.

Node 102 comprises private facing data store 104 and public facing datastore 106. Private facing data store 104 may not connect to or otherwiseaccess or be accessed directly by other nodes on cooperative dataexchange 100. However, public facing data store 106 may connect directlyto public facing data stores of one or more other nodes on cooperativedata exchange 100. Connection 118 facilitates communication betweenprivate facing data store 104 and public facing data store 106.

Node 102 also comprises lookup module 130. Lookup module 130 comprises alookup table. The lookup table comprises addresses of other nodes oncooperative data exchange 100. For example, the lookup table maycomprise IP addresses, domain names, port information, and otherprotocol information (e.g., security protocol information) relating toother nodes on cooperative data exchange 100. In this manner, the lookuptable may be used identify where and how to establish communication fromnode 102 to another node on cooperative data exchange 100. For example,the lookup table may comprise an entry for node 120 that exists at IPaddress 12.34.567.89, communicates on port 587, and requires a TLSconnection. In the event node 102 would like to connect to a desirednode that is not present on lookup module 130, node 102 may connect withanother known node and request (i.e., query) the lookup module of theknown node for the address of the desired node. If the known node doesnot have the requested information, node 102 may query other knownnodes, either simultaneously or sequentially, to determine the desirednode's address. For example, if node 102 would like to connect to node120 and does not know the correct port number, node 102 may query thelookup module of node 108 to determine the appropriate port. Node 102may continue to access the lookup module for each node contained inlookup module 130.

With momentary reference to FIG. 4, lookup methodology 400 is shown. Anode may look up other nodes in its own lookup module at lookup members402. At decision point 404, if there is a match between the desired nodeand the lookup table of the node's lookup module, then locate members408 is performed. Locate members 408 may include resolving a domain namewith a domain name system and/or establishing a secure channel with thedesired node. A secure channel may be any encrypted channel orconnection, such as, for example, via virtual private network, tunnelingprotocol (e.g., ssh tunnel), SSL, TLS, or the like, as further describedherein. If there is no match between the desired node and the lookuptable of the node's lookup module at decision point 404, then lookupmembers 406 is performed. Lookup members 406 may comprise querying thelookup modules of other, known nodes to find the desired node.

Referring back to FIG. 1, node 108 comprises private facing data store112 and public facing data store 110. Private facing data store 112 maynot connect to or otherwise access or be accessed directly by othernodes on cooperative data exchange 100. However, public facing datastore 110 may connect directly to public facing data stores of one ormore other nodes on cooperative data exchange 100. Connection 116facilitates communication between private facing data store 112 andpublic facing data store 110.

Node 120 comprises private facing data store 124 and public facing datastore 122. Private facing data store 124 may not connect to or otherwiseaccess or be accessed directly by other nodes on cooperative dataexchange 100. However, public facing data store 122 may connect directlyto public facing data stores of one or more other nodes on cooperativedata exchange 100. Connection 126 facilitates communication betweenprivate facing data store 124 and public facing data store 122.

Node 102 may initiate and/or use secure channel 114 to communicate withpublic facing data store 110 of node 108. In like manner, node 102 mayinitiate and/or use secure channel 128 to communicate with public facingdata store 122 of node 120.

Cooperative data exchanges may be used to share and analyze businessinformation. Merchants may keep customer lists. Customer lists may bepopulated with customers who “opt-in” to merchant frequent buyerprograms (e.g., frequent flyer programs and in-store coupon programs)and/or customers who join a membership-driven merchant (e.g., awarehouse “club”). Moreover, customer lists may be populated withtransactional data not tied to an individual's name or other identifyinginformation. Thus, a customer list may contain a customer name, atransaction history (including stock keeping units “SKUs” purchased),and/or customer contact information. Any individual customer on acustomer list may be referred to as a first customer or a referencecustomer.

For merchants who do not keep customer lists, but retain transactionaldata, a merchant may possess data relating to a particular transaction(e.g., time, date, amount purchased, geographic location, etc). Suchdata is still considered to be related to a reference customer, eventhough the reference customer's name is not known.

Customer lists, merchant transactional data and the like, standingalone, have a limited ability to provide a merchant with insight intoits customers and consumers generally. Thus, merchants and otherbusinesses may find it advantageous to create a node on a cooperativedata exchange, obtain shared data from other nodes, join or merge theshared data with their own data and perform analytics on such data.

In various embodiments, a node comprises a private data store and/or apublic data store that comprises internal data. “Internal data” andterms similar to “internal data” may include any data a credit issuerpossesses or acquires pertaining to a particular consumer or group ofconsumers. Internal data may be gathered from a transaction system, suchas a closed loop transaction system. Internal data may be gatheredbefore, during, or after a relationship between the credit issuer andthe transaction account holder (e.g., the consumer or buyer). Such datamay include consumer demographic data. Consumer demographic data mayinclude any data pertaining to a consumer. Consumer demographic data mayinclude consumer name, gender, age, address (including ZIP code and 4digit extension, also known as “ZIP+4”), telephone number, emailaddress, employer and social security number. Consumer transactionaldata may include any data pertaining to the particular transactions inwhich a consumer engages during any given time period. Consumertransactional data may include, for example, transaction amount,transaction time, transaction vendor/merchant, and transactionvendor/merchant location. Transaction vendor/merchant location maycontain a high degree of specificity to a vendor/merchant. For example,transaction vendor/merchant location may include a particular gasolinefiling station in a particular postal code located at a particular crosssection or address. Also, for example, transaction vendor/merchantlocation may include a particular web address, such as a UniformResource Locator (“URL”), an email address and/or an Internet Protocol(“IP”) address for a vendor/merchant. Transaction vendor/merchant, andtransaction vendor/merchant location may be associated with a particularconsumer and further associated with sets of consumers. Consumer paymentdata includes any data pertaining to a consumer's history of paying debtobligations. Consumer payment data may include consumer payment dates,payment amounts, balance amount, and credit limit. Internal data mayfurther comprise records of consumer service calls, complaints, requestsfor credit line increases, questions, and comments. A record of aconsumer service call includes, for example, date of call, reason forcall, and any transcript or summary of the actual call.

In various embodiments, as discussed above, a node may contain internaldata in a private facing data store, a public facing data store, or acombination thereof. In various embodiments, a node may contain internaldata in a private facing data store and then a subset of the internaldata in a public facing data store. For example, the internal data in apublic facing data store may not contain personally identifiableinformation, or it may contain a summary of internal data found in theprivate facing data store, or it may contain data derived from internaldata, such as size of wallet or share of wallet information. A size ofwallet may comprise a measure of the amount a consumer spends using acredit, debit, and/or charge card. A share of wallet may comprise ameasure of the relative share of a consumer's size of wallet that isspent in one industry or one merchant. A secure connection, such assecure channel 114, may be used to extract internal data from privatefacing data store into public facing data store.

Internal data placed in the public facing data store may be indexed orotherwise processed to preserve the underlying internal data as providewhile still communicating valuable insight into a given consumer,consumer group, business, or industry. Such internal data may bereferred to as processed internal data.

The internal data may be indexed, for example when stored in a publicfacing data store. For example, an index of data derived from internaldata may comprise a measurement that relates the data to another dataset. For example, the national average size of wallet of a consumer maybe set arbitrarily at 100. A particular consumer may have an averagesize of wallet twice that of the national average and, thus, could havean indexed value of 200. In this manner, the indexed value could beplaced in a public facing data store, so nodes that request thisinformation do not receive the underlying data, but an indexed value asmeasured against a large pool of other consumers. Indexing may be usefulin that is provides concrete trend information yet preserves specificaggregate data. In various embodiments, a large collection of internaldata may exist on a node.

Internal data may also be processed to reflect the underlying data. Forexample, the internal data may comprise a metric that represents spendin various ranges over a given time period, such as the last quarter oryear. As an example, a score of 5000 may indicate that ac consumer spentbetween $5000 and $6000 in the given time period. The internal data mayinclude a range of numbers or a numeric indicator that indicates thetrend of a consumer's spend over a given time period. For example, atrend score of +4 may indicate that the consumer has increased spendingover the previous 4 months, while a trend score of −4 may indicate thatthe consumer has decreased spend over the previous 4 months. Further,aggregate data may be derived from the internal data relating to thepurchasing of a population of transaction account users within a givenindustry.

In various embodiments, a node may comprise an analytics module or maybe in communication with an analytics module. An analytics module may beany device, software, or combination thereof that is configured toperform analytics. Analytics may comprise one or more statisticalanalyses or other manipulation of data. The output of the analyticsmodule may provide insight into consumer behaviors and may be used in avariety of contexts, as described herein.

With reference to FIG. 2, portion of a cooperative data exchange 200 isshown. Node 204 comprises a public facing data store 202 that housestransactional information from a first merchant, which may includetransaction date, transaction time, transaction amount, SKUs in a giventransaction, customer name, customer address (including ZIP+4), customerage, and customer gender. Node 204 uses secure channel 208 to connectfrom the public facing data stores of other various nodes, such as datastores 206, 210 and 212. Data store 206 comprises internal data. Datastore 210 comprises advertising data that comprises data relating topresent and historical advertising campaigns and customers who took anaction in response to such advertising campaigns. Data store 212comprises transactional information from a second merchant, which mayinclude transaction date, transaction time, transaction amount, SKUs ina given transaction, customer name, customer address (including ZIP+4),customer age, customer gender, and or data derived from the same.

Public facing data store may further comprise customers who havepurchased a specific product, customers identified as reaching a certainlevel in a sales cycle, customers who have made purchases through aparticular sales channel, customers who have responded to marketingcampaigns based on specific offer types, product bundling/product types,specific seasons, marketing creative and specific advertising/marketingchannels, customers who are defined as high value through purchaseamount (i.e., historical transactional amount), customer geographicinformation (including instantaneous geographic information obtainedfrom a digital device such as a GPS-equipped smartphone and historicalinstantaneous geographic information obtained from similar sources)customer preference for a particular merchant or type of merchant,customer media preference or psychographic information (e.g., customerpreference of NPR over Fox News), customers defined by the sequence ofproducts that a consumer purchases (e.g., TV, computer, printer, ink),customer response to surveys, customer data collected by third parties(including credit bureaus), customers satisfied with a particularproduct or brand, customers who attrite, customers who make an insuranceclaim, customers who have been identified as providing a particularlevel of return on investment or return to a merchant based on marketinginitiatives or purchase history, customers who have viewed a merchant'ssocial network page, ad, and/or feed (e.g., a Facebook, MySpace, and/orLinkedIn page and/or a Twitter or RSS feed), other social network ad,television ad, customer's viewing of an advertising channel which leadto a sale or other action, customers who have a high or low opinion of aparticular merchant's brand(s), or any other event or data point thatmay allow matching or joining with internal data.

Node 204 may supplement received data from data stores 206, 210 and 212with third party data sources. For example, a third party data sourcemay provide customer credit scores, social network histories (whichinclude any information a social network may gather regarding aconsumer, for example, posted messages, approximate age and gender ofspouse, children and other members of household, pictures, past consumergeographic locations, patterns of past consumer geographic locations,propensity to engage in risky behaviors and the frequency of engaging inthe same, marital status, substance use history, dating history,education level, present and past health status including diseasestatus), public records, consumer transactions conducted using alternatepayment systems, consumer health status, and any other data relating toconsumers who may appear in the internal data. Data from third partydata sources may be joined or appended to internal data relating toconsumers. For example, if the internal data contains a record forconsumer “A” and a third party data source has a history of A's postingson one of A's social network pages, all or a portion of the thirdparty's data may join A's internal data.

Node 204 may then join or otherwise merge the received data from datastores 206, 210 and 212. Performing a join, for example, may beaccomplished using any join function known in the art, as describedherein. For example, a join may be performed to match records from onedata set to another. For example, transaction date, transaction time,and transaction amount from data store 202 may be joined withtransaction date, transaction time, and transaction amount from datastore 206. The join may then return internal data related to thecustomer who engaged in the transaction in question. The join mayutilize a range of data depending upon the desired results, and the joinquery may account for differences in time stamps across various systems.For example, if a join fails to return any results, the transaction timemay be altered slightly in the event the internal data is a few secondsor minutes different from the first merchant data. As an example, forfirst merchant data in table first_merchant and internal data in tableinternal_data, the following query may be used to obtain a customer sizeof wallet for a customer who engaged in a transaction with the firstmerchant: SELECT customer_size_wallet, customer_household_income FROMinternal_data WHEREfirst_merchant.transaction_time=internal_data.transaction_time ANDfirst_merchant.transaction_amount=internal_data.transaction_amount ANDfirst_merchant.transaction_date=internal_data.transaction_date. In manycases, only one record will be returned, provided that the firstmerchant had one transaction for a given transaction time, date andamount. If multiple records are returned, other queries may be used tofurther match records, for example, by inserting transaction location.

Other data may be derived from the received data. For example, aconsumer's social networking history may be queried for mentions ofluxury brand names, and photo recognition software may be used to scanthe consumer's posted social networking photos for the same. Consumerswith high or low frequencies of occurrence may be isolated for furtheranalytics. Photo recognition software may be used to scan the consumer'sposted social networking photos for the gender and age of the consumer'sspouse and children. Also for example, a consumer's social networkinghistory may be queried for mentions of health status and/or diseasestate. These data, in combination with any internal data, may be usefulin marketing medical and/or lifestyle products suited to that healthstatus and/or disease state.

With reference to FIG. 3, method of using a cooperative data exchange300 is illustrated. A node looks up other nodes to access lookup members302. The node then locates other nodes and selects which public facingdata store from which to request data to locate members/identify datasource 304. The node then requests data from the desired public facingdata store(s) in request data 306. The node may then receive receiveddata from the desired public facing data store(s). The node may processthe received data, such as performing a merge or join on the receiveddata to form a final data set. The final data set may then be analyzedin analyze 310. Any analytical process may be performed on the finaldata set.

The cooperative data exchange may thus be used to produce a final dataset upon which analytics may be performed to produce analyzed data. Theanalytics performed may be used in any business or market segment thatsells goods, services, or extends credit or otherwise evaluates thecreditworthiness of a particular consumer. In various embodiments,businesses will be referred to herein as falling into one of threecategories: financial services companies, retail companies, and othercompanies.

The business cycle in each category may be divided into three phases:acquisition, retention, and disposal. The acquisition phase occurs whena business is attempting to gain new consumers. The acquisition phaseincludes, for example, targeted marketing, determining what items tooffer a consumer, deciding whether to lend to a particular consumer andwhat the line size or loan should be, and deciding whether to buy aparticular loan. The retention phase occurs after a consumer is alreadyassociated with the business. In the retention phase, the businessinterests shift to managing the consumer relationship through, forexample, consideration of risk, determination of credit lines,cross-sell opportunities, increasing business from that consumer, andincreasing the company's assets under management.

The disposal phase is entered when a business wishes to dissociateitself from a consumer or otherwise end the consumer relationship. Thedisposal phase can occur, for example, through settlement offers,collections, and sale of defaulted or near-default loans.

Financial services companies include, for example: banks and otherlenders, mutual fund companies, financiers of leases and sales, lifeinsurance companies, online brokerages, credit issuers, and loan buyers.

Banks and lenders can utilize the analyzed data in all phases of thebusiness cycle. One exemplary use is in relation to home equity loansand the rating given to a particular bond issue in the capital market.Analyzed data may be useful in issuing home equity lines of credit andautomobile loans in a similar manner.

For example, if the holder of a home equity loan borrows from thecapital market, the loan holder issues asset-backed securities (“ABS”),or bonds, which are backed by receivables. The loan holder is thus anABS issuer. The ABS issuer applies for an ABS rating, which is assignedbased on the credit quality of the underlying receivables. One of skillin the art will recognize that the ABS issuer may apply for the ABSrating through any application means without altering the spirit andscope of the present invention. In assigning a rating, the ratingagencies weigh a loan's probability of default by considering thelender's underwriting and portfolio management processes. Lendersgenerally secure higher ratings by credit enhancement. Examples ofcredit enhancement include over-collateralization, buying insurance(such as wrap insurance), and structuring ABS (through, for example,senior/subordinate bond structures, sequential pay vs. pari passu, etc.)to achieve higher ratings. Lenders and rating agencies may use certaincharacteristics the debtors of the underlying debt obligations intoconsideration when determining the appropriate level of creditenhancement. Thus, lenders and rating agencies, among others, may join acooperative data exchange to obtain and/or join data from other sourceswith their own, for example, to assist in determining the appropriatelevel of credit enhancement.

During the acquisition phase of a loan, lenders may join a cooperativedata exchange to obtain and/or join data from other sources with theirown to improve their lending decisions. Before issuing the loan, lenderscan obtain data relating to a given potential debtor and use the data tomake credit extension evaluations. For example, a lender may join itsown data with internal data from a transaction system and determine apotential debtor's size of wallet or a potential debtor's propensity topurchase goods or services associated with those who have poor credithistories. Evaluation leads to fewer bad loans and a reduced probabilityof default for loans in the lender's portfolio. For a given loanportfolio that has been originated using data analyzed from acooperative data exchange in accordance with various embodiments, eithera higher rating can be obtained with the same degree ofover-collateralization, or the degree of over-collateralization can bereduced for a given debt rating. Thus, using data analyzed from acooperative data exchange at the acquisition stage of the loan reducesthe lender's overall borrowing cost and loan loss reserves.

During the retention phase of a loan, data analyzed from a cooperativedata exchange can be used to track a consumer. Based on the trendsobserved, the lender can make various decisions regarding the consumerrelationship.

The gaming industry can use data analyzed from a cooperative dataexchange, for example, during the acquisition and retention phases ofthe business cycle. Casinos often extend credit to their wealthiestand/or most active players, also known as “high rollers.” The casinoscan use data analyzed from a cooperative data exchange to gain betterinsight into these consumer and adjust their accommodations to betterfit their customer's needs. For example, casinos can gain insight into acustomer's accommodation preferences or food preferences.

Communications providers, such as telephone service providers, oftencontract into service plans with their consumers. In addition toimproving their targeted marketing strategies, communications providerscan use data analyzed from a cooperative data exchange during theacquisition and retention phases to better market new phones and phoneservices. For example, a telephone service provider may targetadvertising to those consumers whose cellular phone contracts are aboutto expire.

Members of the travel industry can make use of data analyzed from acooperative data exchange in the acquisition and retention stages of thebusiness cycle. For example, a hotelier typically has a brand of hotelthat is associated with a particular “star-level” or class of hotel. Inorder to capture various market segments, hoteliers may be associatedwith several hotel brands that are of different classes. During theacquisition phase of the business cycle, a hotelier may use the dataanalyzed from a cooperative data exchange to better target individualsthat have appropriate spend capacities for various classes of hotels.During the retention phase, the hotelier may use the data analyzed froma cooperative data exchange to determine, for example, when a particularindividual may be associated with increased spending overall orincreased spending in a given industry, such as the travel industry.Based on that determination, the hotelier can market a higher class ofhotel to the consumer in an attempt to convince the consumer to upgrade.

One of skill in the relevant art(s) will recognize that many of theabove described applications of one or more consumer data cohortattributes may be utilized by other industries and market segmentswithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.For example, the strategy of using one or more consumer data cohortattributes to model an industry's “best consumer” and targetingindividuals sharing characteristics of that best consumer can be appliedto nearly all industries.

For the sake of brevity, conventional data networking, applicationdevelopment and other functional aspects of the systems (and componentsof the individual operating components of the systems) may not bedescribed in detail herein. Furthermore, the connecting lines shown inthe various figures contained herein are intended to represent exemplaryfunctional relationships and/or physical couplings between the variouselements. It should be noted that many alternative or additionalfunctional relationships or physical connections may be present in apractical system.

The various system components discussed herein may include one or moreof the following: a host server or other computing systems including aprocessor for processing digital data; a memory coupled to the processorfor storing digital data; an input digitizer coupled to the processorfor inputting digital data; an application program stored in the memoryand accessible by the processor for directing processing of digital databy the processor; a display device coupled to the processor and memoryfor displaying information derived from digital data processed by theprocessor; and a plurality of databases. Various databases used hereinmay include: internal data, client data; merchant data; financialinstitution data; and/or like data useful in the operation of thesystem. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, a computer mayinclude an operating system (e.g., Windows NT, 95/98/2000, XP, Vista,OS2, UNIX, Linux, Solaris, MacOS, iOS, Android, etc.) as well as variousconventional support software and drivers typically associated withcomputers. A user may include any individual, business, entity,government organization, software and/or hardware that interact with asystem.

A web client includes any device (e.g., personal computer or smartphoneor tablet computer) which communicates via any network, for example suchas those discussed herein. Such browser applications comprise Internetbrowsing software installed within a computing unit or a system toconduct online transactions and/or communications. These computing unitsor systems may take the form of a computer or set of computers, althoughother types of computing units or systems may be used, includinglaptops, notebooks, hand held computers, personal digital assistants,set-top boxes, workstations, computer-servers, main frame computers,mini-computers, PC servers, pervasive computers, network sets ofcomputers, personal computers, such as tablet computers (e.g., tabletsrunning Android, iPads), iMACs, and MacBooks, kiosks, terminals, pointof sale (POS) devices and/or terminals, televisions, or any other devicecapable of receiving data over a network. A web-client may run MicrosoftInternet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Opera,or any other of the myriad software packages available for browsing theinternet.

Practitioners will appreciate that a web client may or may not be indirect contact with an application server. For example, a web client mayaccess the services of an application server through another serverand/or hardware component, which may have a direct or indirectconnection to an Internet server. For example, a web client maycommunicate with an application server via a load balancer. In anexemplary embodiment, access is through a network or the Internetthrough a commercially-available web-browser software package.

As those skilled in the art will appreciate, a web client includes anoperating system (e.g., Windows NT, 95/98/2000/CE/Mobile/XP/Vista/7,OS2, UNIX, Linux, Solaris, MacOS, MacOS X, PalmOS, iOS, Android, etc.)as well as various conventional support software and drivers typicallyassociated with computers. A web client may include any suitablepersonal computer, network computer, workstation, personal digitalassistant, cellular phone, smartphone, minicomputer, mainframe or thelike. A web client can be in a home or business environment with accessto a network. In an exemplary embodiment, access is through a network orthe Internet through a commercially available web-browser softwarepackage. A web client may implement security protocols such as SecureSockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS). A web client mayimplement several application layer protocols including http, https,ftp, and sftp.

In various embodiments, various components, modules, and/or engines of asystem may be implemented as micro-applications or micro-apps.Micro-apps are typically deployed in the context of a mobile operatingsystem, including for example, a Palm mobile operating system, a Windowsmobile operating system, an Android Operating System, Apple iOS, aBlackberry operating system and the like. The micro-app may beconfigured to leverage the resources of the larger operating system andassociated hardware via a set of predetermined rules which govern theoperations of various operating systems and hardware resources. Forexample, where a micro-app desires to communicate with a device ornetwork other than the mobile device or mobile operating system, themicro-app may leverage the communication protocol of the operatingsystem and associated device hardware under the predetermined rules ofthe mobile operating system. Moreover, where the micro-app desires aninput from a user, the micro-app may be configured to request a responsefrom the operating system which monitors various hardware components andthen communicates a detected input from the hardware to the micro-app.

As used herein, the term “network” includes any cloud, cloud computingsystem or electronic communications system or method which incorporateshardware and/or software components. Communication among the parties maybe accomplished through any suitable communication channels, such as,for example, a telephone network, an extranet, an intranet, Internet,point of interaction device (point of sale device), personal digitalassistant/smartphone (e.g., iPhone®, Palm Pilot®, Blackberry®, and/or adevice running Android), cellular phone, kiosk, etc., onlinecommunications, satellite communications, off-line communications,wireless communications, transponder communications, local area network(LAN), wide area network (WAN), virtual private network (VPN), networkedor linked devices, keyboard, mouse and/or any suitable communication ordata input modality. Moreover, although the system is frequentlydescribed herein as being implemented with TCP/IP communicationsprotocols, the system may also be implemented using IPX, Appletalk,IP-6, NetBIOS, OSI, any tunneling protocol (e.g. IPsec, SSH), or anynumber of existing or future protocols. If the network is in the natureof a public network, such as the Internet, it may be advantageous topresume the network to be insecure and open to eavesdroppers. Specificinformation related to the protocols, standards, and applicationsoftware utilized in connection with the Internet is generally known tothose skilled in the art and, as such, need not be detailed herein. See,for example, DILIP NAIK, INTERNET STANDARDS AND PROTOCOLS (1998); JAVA 2COMPLETE, various authors, (Sybex 1999); DEBORAH RAY AND ERIC RAY,MASTERING HTML 4.0 (1997); and LOSHIN, TCP/IP CLEARLY EXPLAINED (1997)and DAVID GOURLEY AND BRIAN TOTTY, HTTP, THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE (2002),the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

The various system components may be independently, separately orcollectively suitably coupled to the network via data links whichincludes, for example, a connection to an Internet Service Provider(ISP) over the local loop as is typically used in connection withstandard modem communication, cable modem, Dish networks, ISDN, DigitalSubscriber Line (DSL), or various wireless communication methods, see,e.g., GILBERT HELD, UNDERSTANDING DATA COMMUNICATIONS (1996), which ishereby incorporated by reference. It is noted that the network may beimplemented as other types of networks, such as an interactivetelevision (ITV) network. Moreover, the system contemplates the use,sale or distribution of any goods, services or information over anynetwork having similar functionality described herein.

“Cloud” or “Cloud computing” includes a model for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services)that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal managementeffort or service provider interaction. Cloud computing may includelocation-independent computing, whereby shared servers provideresources, software, and data to computers and other devices on demand.For more information regarding cloud computing, see the NIST's (NationalInstitute of Standards and Technology) definition of cloud computing athttp://csrc.nist.gov/groups/SNS/cloud-computing/cloud-def-v15.doc (lastvisited Feb. 4, 2011), which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

As used herein, “transmit” may include sending electronic data from onesystem component to another over a network connection. Additionally, asused herein, “data” may include encompassing information such ascommands, queries, files, data for storage, and the like in digital orany other form.

As used herein, “issue a debit”, “debit” or “debiting” refers to eithercausing the debiting of a stored value or prepaid card-type financialaccount, or causing the charging of a credit or charge card-typefinancial account, as applicable.

Phrases or terms similar to “item” may include any good, service,information, experience, data, content, access, rental, lease,contribution, account, credit, debit, benefit, right, monetary value,non-monetary value and/or the like.

The system contemplates uses in association with web services, utilitycomputing, pervasive and individualized computing, security and identitysolutions, autonomic computing, cloud computing, commodity computing,mobility and wireless solutions, open source, biometrics, grid computingand/or mesh computing.

Any databases discussed herein may include relational, hierarchical,graphical, or object-oriented structure and/or any other databaseconfigurations. Common database products that may be used to implementthe databases include DB2 by IBM (Armonk, N.Y.), various databaseproducts available from Oracle Corporation (Redwood Shores, Calif.),Microsoft Access or Microsoft SQL Server by Microsoft Corporation(Redmond, Wash.), MySQL by MySQL AB (Uppsala, Sweden), or any othersuitable database product. Moreover, the databases may be organized inany suitable manner, for example, as data tables or lookup tables. Eachrecord may be a single file, a series of files, a linked series of datafields or any other data structure. Association of certain data may beaccomplished through any desired data association technique such asthose known or practiced in the art. For example, the association may beaccomplished either manually or automatically. Automatic associationtechniques may include, for example, a database search, a databasemerge, GREP, AGREP, SQL, using a key field in the tables to speedsearches, sequential searches through all the tables and files, sortingrecords in the file according to a known order to simplify lookup,and/or the like. The association step may be accomplished by a databasemerge function, for example, using a “key field” in pre-selecteddatabases or data sectors. Various database tuning steps arecontemplated to optimize database performance. For example, frequentlyused files such as indexes may be placed on separate file systems toreduce In/Out (“I/O”) bottlenecks.

More particularly, a “key field” partitions the database according tothe high-level class of objects defined by the key field. For example,certain types of data may be designated as a key field in a plurality ofrelated data tables and the data tables may then be linked on the basisof the type of data in the key field. The data corresponding to the keyfield in each of the linked data tables is preferably the same or of thesame type. However, data tables having similar, though not identical,data in the key fields may also be linked by using AGREP, for example.In accordance with one embodiment, any suitable data storage techniquemay be utilized to store data without a standard format. Data sets maybe stored using any suitable technique, including, for example, storingindividual files using an ISO/IEC 7816-4 file structure; implementing adomain whereby a dedicated file is selected that exposes one or moreelementary files containing one or more data sets; using data setsstored in individual files using a hierarchical filing system; data setsstored as records in a single file (including compression, SQLaccessible, hashed via one or more keys, numeric, alphabetical by firsttuple, etc.); Binary Large Object (BLOB); stored as ungrouped dataelements encoded using ISO/IEC 7816-6 data elements; stored as ungroupeddata elements encoded using ISO/IEC Abstract Syntax Notation (ASN.1) asin ISO/IEC 8824 and 8825; and/or other proprietary techniques that mayinclude fractal compression methods, image compression methods, etc.

In various embodiments, the ability to store a wide variety ofinformation in different formats is facilitated by storing theinformation as a BLOB. Thus, any binary information can be stored in astorage space associated with a data set. As discussed above, the binaryinformation may be stored on the financial transaction instrument orexternal to but affiliated with the financial transaction instrument.The BLOB method may store data sets as ungrouped data elements formattedas a block of binary via a fixed memory offset using either fixedstorage allocation, circular queue techniques, or best practices withrespect to memory management (e.g., paged memory, least recently used,etc.). By using BLOB methods, the ability to store various data setsthat have different formats facilitates the storage of data associatedwith the financial transaction instrument by multiple and unrelatedowners of the data sets. For example, a first data set which may bestored may be provided by a first party, a second data set which may bestored may be provided by an unrelated second party, and yet a thirddata set which may be stored, may be provided by an third partyunrelated to the first and second party. Each of these three exemplarydata sets may contain different information that is stored usingdifferent data storage formats and/or techniques. Further, each data setmay contain subsets of data that also may be distinct from othersubsets.

As stated above, in various embodiments, the data can be stored withoutregard to a common format. However, in one exemplary embodiment, thedata set (e.g., BLOB) may be annotated in a standard manner whenprovided for manipulating the data onto the financial transactioninstrument. The annotation may comprise a short header, trailer, orother appropriate indicator related to each data set that is configuredto convey information useful in managing the various data sets. Forexample, the annotation may be called a “condition header”, “header”,“trailer”, or “status”, herein, and may comprise an indication of thestatus of the data set or may include an identifier correlated to aspecific issuer or owner of the data. In one example, the first threebytes of each data set BLOB may be configured or configurable toindicate the status of that particular data set; e.g., LOADED,INITIALIZED, READY, BLOCKED, REMOVABLE, or DELETED. Subsequent bytes ofdata may be used to indicate for example, the identity of the issuer,user, transaction/membership account identifier or the like. Each ofthese condition annotations are further discussed herein.

The data set annotation may also be used for other types of statusinformation as well as various other purposes. For example, the data setannotation may include security information establishing access levels.The access levels may, for example, be configured to permit only certainindividuals, levels of employees, companies, or other entities to accessdata sets, or to permit access to specific data sets based on thetransaction, merchant, issuer, user or the like. Furthermore, thesecurity information may restrict/permit only certain actions such asaccessing, modifying, and/or deleting data sets. In one example, thedata set annotation indicates that only the data set owner or the userare permitted to delete a data set, various identified users may bepermitted to access the data set for reading, and others are altogetherexcluded from accessing the data set. However, other access restrictionparameters may also be used allowing various entities to access a dataset with various permission levels as appropriate.

The data, including the header or trailer may be received by a standalone interaction device configured to add, delete, modify, or augmentthe data in accordance with the header or trailer. As such, in oneembodiment, the header or trailer is not stored on the transactiondevice along with the associated issuer-owned data but instead theappropriate action may be taken by providing to the transactioninstrument user at the stand alone device, the appropriate option forthe action to be taken. The system may contemplate a data storagearrangement wherein the header or trailer, or header or trailer history,of the data is stored on the transaction instrument in relation to theappropriate data.

One skilled in the art will also appreciate that, for security reasons,any databases, systems, devices, servers or other components of thesystem may consist of any combination thereof at a single location or atmultiple locations, wherein each database or system includes any ofvarious suitable security features, such as firewalls, access codes,encryption, decryption, compression, decompression, and/or the like.

Encryption may be performed by way of any of the techniques nowavailable in the art or which may become available e.g., Twofish, RSA,El Gamal, Schorr signature, DSA, PGP, PKI, and symmetric and asymmetriccryptosystems. Any form of encryption may be used to implement a securechannel, as described herein.

The computing unit of the web client may be further equipped with anInternet browser connected to the Internet or an intranet using standarddial-up, cable, DSL or any other Internet protocol known in the art.Transactions originating at a web client may pass through a firewall inorder to prevent unauthorized access from users of other networks.Further, additional firewalls may be deployed between the varyingcomponents of CMS to further enhance security.

Firewall may include any hardware and/or software suitably configured toprotect CMS components and/or enterprise computing resources from usersof other networks. Further, a firewall may be configured to limit orrestrict access to various systems and components behind the firewallfor web clients connecting through a web server. Firewall may reside invarying configurations including Stateful Inspection, Proxy based,access control lists, and Packet Filtering among others. Firewall may beintegrated within an web server or any other CMS components or mayfurther reside as a separate entity. A firewall may implement networkaddress translation (“NAT”) and/or network address port translation(“NAPT”). A firewall may accommodate various tunneling protocols tofacilitate secure communications, such as those used in virtual privatenetworking. A firewall may implement a demilitarized zone (“DMZ”) tofacilitate communications with a public network such as the Internet. Afirewall may be integrated as software within an Internet server, anyother application server components or may reside within anothercomputing device or may take the form of a standalone hardwarecomponent.

The computers discussed herein may provide a suitable website or otherInternet-based graphical user interface which is accessible by users. Invarious embodiments, the Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS),Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS), and Microsoft SQL Server, are usedin conjunction with the Microsoft operating system, Microsoft NT webserver software, a Microsoft SQL Server database system, and a MicrosoftCommerce Server. Additionally, components such as Access or MicrosoftSQL Server, Oracle, Sybase, Informix MySQL, Interbase, etc., may be usedto provide an Active Data Object (ADO) compliant database managementsystem. In one embodiment, the Apache web server is used in conjunctionwith a Linux operating system, a MySQL database, and the Peri, PHP,and/or Python programming languages.

Any of the communications, inputs, storage, databases or displaysdiscussed herein may be facilitated through a website having web pages.The term “web page” as it is used herein is not meant to limit the typeof documents and applications that might be used to interact with theuser. For example, a typical website might include, in addition tostandard HTML documents, various forms, Java applets, JavaScript, activeserver pages (ASP), common gateway interface scripts (CGI), extensiblemarkup language (XML), dynamic HTML, cascading style sheets (CSS), AJAX(Asynchronous Javascript And XML), helper applications, plug-ins, andthe like. A server may include a web service that receives a requestfrom a web server, the request including a URL(http://yahoo.com/stockquotes/ge) and an IP address (123.56.789.234).The web server retrieves the appropriate web pages and sends the data orapplications for the web pages to the IP address. Web services areapplications that are capable of interacting with other applicationsover a communications means, such as the internet. Web services aretypically based on standards or protocols such as XML, SOAP, AJAX, WSDLand UDDI. Web services methods are well known in the art, and arecovered in many standard texts. See, e.g., ALEX NGHIEM, IT WEB SERVICES:A ROADMAP FOR THE ENTERPRISE (2003), hereby incorporated by reference.

Middleware may include any hardware and/or software suitably configuredto facilitate communications and/or process transactions betweendisparate computing systems. Middleware components are commerciallyavailable and known in the art. Middleware may be implemented throughcommercially available hardware and/or software, through custom hardwareand/or software components, or through a combination thereof. Middlewaremay reside in a variety of configurations and may exist as a standalonesystem or may be a software component residing on the Internet server.Middleware may be configured to process transactions between the variouscomponents of an application server and any number of internal orexternal systems for any of the purposes disclosed herein. WebSphereMQTM (formerly MQSeries) by IBM, Inc. (Armonk, N.Y.) is an example of acommercially available middleware product. An Enterprise Service Bus(“ESB”) application is another example of middleware.

Practitioners will also appreciate that there are a number of methodsfor displaying data within a browser-based document. Data may berepresented as standard text or within a fixed list, scrollable list,drop-down list, editable text field, fixed text field, pop-up window,and the like. Likewise, there are a number of methods available formodifying data in a web page such as, for example, free text entry usinga keyboard, selection of menu items, check boxes, option boxes, and thelike.

The system and method may be described herein in terms of functionalblock components, screen shots, optional selections and variousprocessing steps. It should be appreciated that such functional blocksmay be realized by any number of hardware and/or software componentsconfigured to perform the specified functions. For example, the systemmay employ various integrated circuit components, e.g., memory elements,processing elements, logic elements, look-up tables, and the like, whichmay carry out a variety of functions under the control of one or moremicroprocessors or other control devices. Similarly, the softwareelements of the system may be implemented with any programming orscripting language such as C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, VBScript,Macromedia Cold Fusion, COBOL, Microsoft Active Server Pages, assembly,PERL, PHP, awk, Python, Visual Basic, SQL Stored Procedures, PL/SQL, anyUNIX shell script, and extensible markup language (XML) with the variousalgorithms being implemented with any combination of data structures,objects, processes, routines or other programming elements. Further, itshould be noted that the system may employ any number of conventionaltechniques for data transmission, signaling, data processing, networkcontrol, and the like. Still further, the system could be used to detector prevent security issues with a client-side scripting language, suchas JavaScript, VBScript or the like. For a basic introduction ofcryptography and network security, see any of the following references:(1) “Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, And Source Code In C,”by Bruce Schneier, published by John Wiley & Sons (second edition,1995); (2) “Java Cryptography” by Jonathan Knudson, published byO'Reilly & Associates (1998); (3) “Cryptography & Network Security:Principles & Practice” by William Stallings, published by Prentice Hall;all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

In various embodiments, each participant is equipped with a computingdevice in order to interact with the system and facilitate onlinecommerce transactions. The customer has a computing unit in the form ofa personal computer, although other types of computing units may be usedincluding laptops, notebooks, hand held computers, set-top boxes,cellular telephones, touch-tone telephones and the like. The merchanthas a computing unit implemented in the form of a computer-server,although other implementations are contemplated by the system. The bankmay have a computing center shown as a main frame computer. However, thebank computing center may be implemented in other forms, such as amini-computer, a PC server, a network of computers located in the sameof different geographic locations, or the like. Moreover, the systemcontemplates the use, sale or distribution of any goods, services orinformation over any network having similar functionality describedherein

The merchant computer and the bank computer may be interconnected via asecond network, referred to as a payment network. The payment networkwhich may be part of certain transactions represents existingproprietary networks that presently accommodate transactions for creditcards, debit cards, and other types of financial/banking cards. Thepayment network is a closed network that is assumed to be secure fromeavesdroppers. Exemplary transaction networks may include the AmericanExpress®, VisaNet® and the Veriphone® networks. A transaction system maycomprise a payment network.

The electronic commerce system may be implemented at the customer andissuing bank. In an exemplary implementation, the electronic commercesystem is implemented as computer software modules loaded onto thecustomer computer and the banking computing center. The merchantcomputer does not require any additional software to participate in theonline commerce transactions supported by the online commerce system.

As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the systemmay be embodied as a customization of an existing system, an add-onproduct, upgraded software, a stand alone system, a distributed system,a method, a data processing system, a device for data processing, and/ora computer program product. Accordingly, the system may take the form ofan entirely software embodiment, an entirely hardware embodiment, or anembodiment combining aspects of both software and hardware. Furthermore,the system may take the form of a computer program product on acomputer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program codemeans embodied in the storage medium. Any suitable computer-readablestorage medium may be utilized, including hard disks, CD-ROM, opticalstorage devices, magnetic storage devices, and/or the like.

The system and method is described herein with reference to screenshots, block diagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods, apparatus(e.g., systems), and computer program products according to variousembodiments. It will be understood that each functional block of theblock diagrams and the flowchart illustrations, and combinations offunctional blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations,respectively, can be implemented by computer program instructions.

The process flows and screenshots illustrated or described are merelyembodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.For example, the steps recited in any of the method or processdescriptions may be executed in any order and are not limited to theorder presented. It will be appreciated that the following descriptionmakes appropriate references not only to the steps and user interfaceelements, but also to the various system components as described herein.

The computer program instructions may be loaded onto a general purposecomputer, special purpose computer, or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructionsthat execute on the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks. These computer program instructions may alsobe stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meanswhich implement the function specified in the flowchart block or blocks.The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer-implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks.

Accordingly, functional blocks of the block diagrams and flowchartillustrations support combinations of means for performing the specifiedfunctions, combinations of steps for performing the specified functions,and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. Itwill also be understood that each functional block of the block diagramsand flowchart illustrations, and combinations of functional blocks inthe block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, can be implemented byeither special purpose hardware-based computer systems which perform thespecified functions or steps, or suitable combinations of specialpurpose hardware and computer instructions. Further, illustrations ofthe process flows and the descriptions thereof may make reference touser windows, webpages, websites, web forms, prompts, etc. Practitionerswill appreciate that the illustrated steps described herein may comprisein any number of configurations including the use of windows, webpages,web forms, popup windows, prompts and the like. It should be furtherappreciated that the multiple steps as illustrated and described may becombined into single webpages and/or windows but have been expanded forthe sake of simplicity. In other cases, steps illustrated and describedas single process steps may be separated into multiple webpages and/orwindows but have been combined for simplicity.

Phrases and terms similar to “business” or “merchant” may be usedinterchangeably with each other and shall mean any person, entity,distributor system, software and/or hardware that is a provider, brokerand/or any other entity in the distribution chain of goods or services.For example, a merchant may be a grocery store, a retail store, a travelagency, a service provider, an on-line merchant or the like.

The terms “payment vehicle,” “financial transaction instrument,”“transaction instrument” and/or the plural form of these terms may beused interchangeably throughout to refer to a financial instrument.

Phrases similar to a “payment processor” may include a company (e.g., athird party) appointed (e.g., by a merchant) to handle transactions formerchant banks. Payment processors may be broken down into two types:front-end and back-end. Front-end payment processors have connections tovarious transaction accounts and supply authorization and settlementservices to the merchant banks' merchants. Back-end payment processorsaccept settlements from front-end payment processors and, via TheFederal Reserve Bank, move money from an issuing bank to the merchantbank. In an operation that will usually take a few seconds, the paymentprocessor will both check the details received by forwarding the detailsto the respective account's issuing bank or card association forverification, and may carry out a series of anti-fraud measures againstthe transaction. Additional parameters, including the account's countryof issue and its previous payment history, may be used to gauge theprobability of the transaction being approved. In response to thepayment processor receiving confirmation that the transaction accountdetails have been verified, the information may be relayed back to themerchant, who will then complete the payment transaction. In response tothe verification being denied, the payment processor relays theinformation to the merchant, who may then decline the transaction.

Phrases similar to a “payment gateway” or “gateway” may include anapplication service provider service that authorizes payments fore-businesses, online retailers, and/or traditional brick and mortarmerchants. The gateway may be the equivalent of a physical point of saleterminal located in most retail outlets. A payment gateway may protecttransaction account details by encrypting sensitive information, such astransaction account numbers, to ensure that information passes securelybetween the customer and the merchant and also between merchant andpayment processor.

Phrases similar to “vendor software” or “vendor” may include software,hardware and/or a solution provided from an external vendor (e.g., notpart of the merchant) to provide value in the payment process (e.g.,risk assessment).

The term “non-transitory” is to be understood to remove only propagatingtransitory signals per se from the claim scope and does not relinquishrights to all standard computer-readable media that are not onlypropagating transitory signals per se. Stated another way, the meaningof the term “non-transitory computer-readable medium” should beconstrued to exclude only those types of transitory computer-readablemedia which were found in In Re Nuijten to fall outside the scope ofpatentable subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101.

Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have beendescribed herein with regard to specific embodiments. However, thebenefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any elements that maycause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become morepronounced are not to be construed as critical, required, or essentialfeatures or elements of the disclosure. The scope of the disclosure isaccordingly to be limited by nothing other than the appended claims, inwhich reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean“one and only one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “one ormore.” Moreover, where a phrase similar to ‘at least one of A, B, and C’or ‘at least one of A, B, or C’ is used in the claims or specification,it is intended that the phrase be interpreted to mean that A alone maybe present in an embodiment, B alone may be present in an embodiment, Calone may be present in an embodiment, or that any combination of theelements A, B and C may be present in a single embodiment; for example,A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C. Although the disclosureincludes a method, it is contemplated that it may be embodied ascomputer program instructions on a tangible computer-readable carrier,such as a magnetic or optical memory or a magnetic or optical disk. Allstructural, chemical, and functional equivalents to the elements of theabove-described exemplary embodiments that are known to those ofordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by referenceand are intended to be encompassed by the present claims. Moreover, itis not necessary for a device or method to address each and everyproblem sought to be solved by the present disclosure, for it to beencompassed by the present claims. Furthermore, no element, component,or method step in the present disclosure is intended to be dedicated tothe public regardless of whether the element, component, or method stepis explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element herein is to beconstrued under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, unlessthe element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for.” As usedherein, the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variationthereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that aprocess, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elementsdoes not include only those elements but may include other elements notexpressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, orapparatus.

1.-20. (canceled)
 21. A method comprising: a computer-based systemdividing data corresponding to a private facing data store into a firstportion and a remaining portion so that the first portion includesprivate information for a user and the remaining portion does notinclude the private information; the computer-based system populating apublic facing data store with a combination of the remaining portion andother data corresponding to the user, wherein the other data is obtainedfrom a third-party source; and the computer-based system transmitting,over a secure channel to a device in communication with thecomputer-based system, a portion of data included in the public facingdata store in response to a query for an attribute of the user.
 22. Themethod of claim 21, wherein the public facing data store is associatedwith a first entity, and wherein the public facing data store isoperable to exchange data with one or more other public facing datastores associated with one or more entities other than the first entity.23. The method of claim 21, wherein dividing the data comprises removingpersonally identifiable information of the user from the remainingportion.
 24. The method of claim 21, wherein dividing the data comprisesgenerating a summary of data stored in the private facing data storecorresponding to the user and including the summary in the remainingportion.
 25. The method of claim 21, wherein populating the publicfacing data store comprises generating an indexed value of informationcorresponding to the user that indicates the attribute of the userrelative to a population of users.
 26. The method of claim 21, whereinthe attribute is a financial attribute of the user.
 27. The method ofclaim 21, wherein the other data is indicative of the user's socialnetworking activity on one or more social networking sites.
 28. Asystem, comprising: a processor; a non-transitory memory configured tocommunicate with the processor, the non-transitory memory havinginstructions stored thereon that are executable by the processor tocause the system to perform operations comprising: dividing datacorresponding to a private facing data store into a first portion and aremaining portion so that the first portion includes private informationfor a user and the remaining portion does not include the privateinformation; populating a public facing data store with a combination ofthe remaining portion and other data corresponding to the user, whereinthe other data is indicative of the user's activity on a third-partysite; and transmitting, over a secure channel to a device incommunication with the system, a portion of data included in the publicfacing data store in response to a query for an analysis of the user.29. The system of claim 28, wherein the public facing data store isassociated with a first entity, and wherein the operations furthercomprise retrieving the other data indicative of the user's activity onthe third-party site from a different public facing data storeassociated with a different entity.
 30. The system of claim 28, whereinthe operations further include querying textual records of the user'sactivity on the third-party site and responsively generating the portionof data transmitted in response to the query.
 31. The system of claim28, wherein the operations further include performing image analysis onimage data within the user's activity on the third-party site andresponsively generating the portion of data transmitted in response tothe query.
 32. The system of claim 28, wherein the operations furtherinclude analyzing data included in the public facing data store toidentify a demographic characteristic of the user and responsivelygenerating the portion of data transmitted in response to the query. 33.The system of claim 28, wherein the operations further include analyzingdata included in the public facing data store to identify a demographiccharacteristic of the user and responsively generating the portion ofdata transmitted in response to the query.
 34. The system of claim 28,wherein the operations further include analyzing data included in thepublic facing data store to identify a creditworthiness metric of theuser and responsively generating the portion of data transmitted inresponse to the query.
 35. An article of manufacture including anon-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructionsstored thereon that are executable by a computer-based system to causethe computer-based system to perform operations comprising: dividingdata corresponding to a private facing data store into a first portionand a remaining portion so that the first portion includes personallyidentifiable information for a user and the remaining portion does notinclude the personally identifiable information; populating a publicfacing data store with a combination of the remaining portion and otherdata corresponding to the user, wherein the other data is indicative ofthe user's activity on a third-party site; and transmitting, over asecure channel to a device in communication with the computer-basedsystem, a portion of data included in the public facing data store inresponse to a query for an attribute of the user.
 36. The article ofmanufacture of claim 35, wherein populating the public facing data storecomprises generating an indexed value of information corresponding tothe user that indicates the attribute of the user relative to apopulation of users.
 37. The article of manufacture of claim 35, whereinpopulating the public facing data store comprises generating informationindicative of a trend of the attribute over time.
 38. The article ofmanufacture of claim 35, wherein the other data is indicative of theuser's purchase activity on the third-party site.
 39. The article ofmanufacture of claim 35, wherein to generate the portion of data inresponse to the query, the operations further include analyzing data inthe public facing data store to identify a preference of the user. 40.The article of manufacture of claim 35, wherein to generate the portionof data in response to the query, the operations further includeanalyzing data in the public facing data store to identify a level ofcreditworthiness of the user.